Low power dissipation in standby mode is a strong requirement for mobile electronic apparatuses as portable phones, personal digital assistants, portable computers, headsets, remote controls, watches, portable audio apparatus, wearable electronics, etc. With standby, the particular operating state is meant where the integrated circuit is powered, has little or no switching activity, but can resume activity at any time within a short period. In general, avoiding node activity reduces standby power in an IC. For circuits that are already optimized in this respect, the main contributor for standby power dissipation is leakage current.
The patent abstract of Japan JP 06311012 describes a circuit allowing limiting leakage current in standby mode by avoiding switching transistors.